Everywhere Virtually

I was riding down the road today and the handling of the bike became a little wobbly. A quick glance at the front tire and everything was OK. I got to the traffic lights and had a check of the rear and all was not well. It was looking as if it was at half pressure. I’ve no idea where I picked up the nail but it was kind of irrelevant now anyway.

I went to the petrol station to get some air and then headed to Halfords. I kind of knew they wouldn’t be open at 8pm on a Saturday evening but it was worth a look anyway. I also realise that Halfords are pretty useless when it comes to most things. They are always out of stock of everything you need. Even when the items are in stock they often stock substandard items and if you do manage to find what you want they are staffed by spotty teenagers who are work shy and only want to talk to their work mates. If you ask them something they read it off the information on the box you have just picked up as if you cant read the box yourself . Anyway I headed home on my slowly deflating rear tyre.

I realised the nail was not a nail and some of it had snapped off right down to the level of the tyre. It was like a little tube so of course the air was whistling out of the centre of this tube. It reminded me of the stinger thing the police use to stop cars in their tracks.

So Sunday’s task is to find a “Stop & Go Tire Plugger” Thankfully I have tubeless tyres so I don’t even have to remove the wheel or tire and the fix will do until I change the tyres in 900 or so miles.

So this week the 800 departed for the auctions. A journey without me on board. I have to admit it felt a little odd but I had come to terms with it a long time ago so accepted the situation for what it is.

As it happened the guy who picked it up was not some burly bailiff type but a softly spoken gentleman who had been a former motorcycle paramedic. He had told me that he had been jet skiing one day and another guy ran over him in the water snapping his neck and stretching his spinal cord. That made me think certainly how lucky I was. I might not have a job, I might be giving my bike back but better to have given it back than to have lost it in an accident or for me to have suffered a catastrophic injury or death.

So off it went to the auctions and with that I returned to “The project”. The CB500 was prepped and ready for some more painting.

I want it to be mostly black but with a hint of chrome or silver here and there. My inspiration is “The Wrench Monkees”

Some of my fellow adventuring buddies are scoffing at the little Honda but I am working with what I have got. It’s not as comfortable as a Giant trailie. It is a purer form of motorcycling. When you ride along your view is not obscured by large fairings, windshields, sat navs, large electronic displays. What you see is the black rubber of the front wheel, the tarmac rushing past you, the chrome of the headlight and the simple speedo. That’s it. If you look up you don’t see the bike and it is as if one is flying.

There is a good chance the Honda could become a sidecar hack. The only thing to decide then is will it become a left or right hand side sidecar.

Before

After

Not much news to report really. The BMW will be picked up on Monday by their collections agents. Already the finance people are after the remaining £1300 but I’m out of work so I wish them luck in trying to retrieve that money because If I don’t have it they certainly can’t have it. In the interim I am prepping the little Honda.

The biggest challenge for me is the ergonomics. I have been used to the stretched out riding position of the 800 and despite me being only 5′ 7″ (171 cm) the distance between the seat and the pegs is too short. The pegs are also behind me a little and of course the bars are low and set forward which adds to that cramped feeling. I’m hoping adding some bar risers and my airhawk will help in the short term.

The bikes engine is sound and the few things that are wrong with it are cosmetic. Somebody has previously tarted it up and not done a very thorough job of it. Springs painted in black paint without a primer so it just flakes off.

The forks, engine casings and other silver bits again have been painted in silver paint with very obvious brush strokes.

various nuts and bolts are rusty, so to save time and money I have been taking each one out, cleaning it up and spraying it in black satin hammerite which gives them a powder coated look. Hammerite also has the benefit of inhibiting rust. The scratched panels and gaudy pink decal will also be going. Everything is being primed and sprayed satin black. Matt black is not as hard wearing.

I replaced the bulbs in the headlight and instrumentation panel. I was going to install my HID 50w bulb but then realised that the lens is plastic and will melt or go brown as has been discovered on various forums. There is a fair amount of rust inside that light and I need to take the thing apart and clean it up. I haven’t got the time at the moment to start messing with the wiring loom so for now I just cleaned it up enough to get by until the summer.

My tired and battered Sat nav is also getting a make over. If you look closely the screen is cracked in the bottom left corner and the unit itself has a crack in it. It makes using the back button and certain keys problematic. So It is also getting the satin black plasti-kote treatment. I’m hoping it will all look good in the end. The British weather as always has been problematic. 5 celsius in May with damp and occasional showers does not make for good spray painting conditions.

My friend Greg in Austria gave me some good tips though. One of which was to put the cans in a bucket of hot water. This has the effect of increasing the pressure inside the can which will result in less blobs. Genius.

I’ve got a lot of time to think right now. This is a bike blog so I will spare you the financial and employment thoughts but the bike thinking has gone off the wall.

Right now my problem is I’m about to be bike-less very soon. In about a weeks time. This is a problem.

So I’m thinking I have little cash but I need a replacement. So I go online to bike trader and I set the budget to be £1000 max. Right now I don’t have £1000 but I need to keep it within the bounds of reality. There are bikes for less but a lot have problems or are being sold for spares.

So anyway I’ve gone from dirt bikes to Suzuki bandits to Yamaha Fazer’s to Honda Hornets back to Yamaha’s and Virago bobber’s.

That’s the problem when you have a good imagination. It’s like putting Mentos in a coke bottle. It just blows up in all directions.

Anyway my thinking is this. I want to continue in adventure riding and I’m thinking of the Tenere route as I mentioned in an earlier post. Those bikes are out of my price range for now so I’m thinking that is the 2011 goal. For 2010 I’m thinking I will get a bike just for summer riding. Then come the winter get a cheap car which will please my lady

So believe it or not I’m looking at a bobber for the summer. Something along the lines of an Yamaha XV535. Mad I know but I could have some fun with this and over the winter months I know my friend Greg would love to help me spray the think matt black. I don’t do chrome or tassels!

So in future I see a scenario where I have a modded 650 single adventure bike and something for short days cruising that is comfortable for my lady and I and does not require her to high jump onto the seat.

Of course these are just ideas but I felt I needed to brain dump. Thanks for listening.